"david grgoire van reybrouck born in bruges september 11 1971 is a flemish belgian author he writes historical fiction literary nonfiction novels poetry plays and academic texts he has received several dutch literary prizes including ako literature prize 2010 and libris history prize he was born into a family of florists bookbinders and artists his father a farmers son spent five years in the democratic republic of the congo as a railway engineer immediately after independence van reybrouck is a cultural historian archaeologist and writer he holds a doctorate from leiden university his first book de plaag in english the plague was a cross between a travelogue and a literary whodunnit set in postapartheid south africa it received several awards including the prize for the best flemish debut in 2002 and a shortlist nomination for the gouden uil one of the leading literary prizes in the low countries it was translated into afrikaans french and hungarian a longtime oped writer for the flemish national newspaper de morgen van reybrouck has coedited a volume on the federal future of belgium what belgium stands for a scenario 2007 and a thoughtprovoking pamphlet pleidooi voor populisme a plea for populism 2008 which has stirred quite some debate the latter won hollands most distinguished essay prizein spring 2010 his book congo een geschiedenis in english congo a history was published over the years van reybrouck has travelled extensively throughout africa congo a history is as much the result of his ten journeys through the democratic republic of the congo as of the months spent in libraries and archives he has interviewed hundreds of individuals with a particular predilection for socalled ordinary people precisely because their lives and choices are so often extraordinary the book portrays slavery and colonialism resistance and survival it includes archive footage interviews and personal observations congo a history is translated into english french german italian norwegian swedish danish and finnish not content with simply observing van reybrouck has also been actively involved in organising literary workshops for congolese playwrights in kinshasa and goma"

— David Van Reybrouck 🦘

"jesper waldersten born 1969 in stockholm sweden is a swedish illustrator och artistwalderstens illustrations have under may years been seen in dagens nyheter swedens leading morgning paper he has illustrated for mnadsjournalen berwaldhallen and has also created album covers his work has been shown in several exhibitions including galleri charlotte lund i stockholm grafikens hus and frgfabriken he has worked as an art director and has also directed a music video for ane brun in 2012 his book kent waldersten lgg er inte i in collaboration with the music group kent band the book was released in conjunction with kents album release of jag r inte rdd fr mrkret and contains photographs texts collages and drawings created by jesper waldersten during the recording of the albumwaldersten has been called one of swedens most popular illustrators and artists he has illustrated books for authors such as lennart hellsing but also published several of his own books in 2003 his first childrens book godnattfnatt was published waldersten 365 is the result of a project in which he every day for a whole year at least created one unique image that was published on his website wwwwalderstencom the book was awarded in the swedish book arts award 2011"

— Jesper Waldersten 🦘

"philip grausman born july 16 1935 is an american sculptor who continues to push the limits of the timehonored portrait in art his early work focused on natural forms representing buds and seeds and this exploration led him to the underlying structure and form of the human head his monumental heads of fiberglass display a subtle hand and the lack of detail makes a stunning presentation he also continues to create reductivist portraits at normal scale experimenting with various metals with matte finishes to accomplish his visiongrausman has received numerous awards including the rome prize in sculpture a ford foundation purchase award and grants from the national institute of arts and letters and the louis comfort tiffany foundation among others his many solo and group exhibitions of sculpture and drawings have been displayed throughout the usin 1959 grausman studied with jose de creeft at the art students league in new york city and earned a mfa from the cranbrook academy of art in michigan his work is included in the collections of the metropolitan museum of art new york city the brooklyn museum brooklyn new york and the wadsworth atheneum hartford connecticut grausman has participated in over eighty solo and group exhibitions at prestigious venues throughout the world a selection of which includes the national academy of design new york city whitney museum of american art new york city new arts gallery litchfield connecticut hollycroft foundation the sculpture mile madison connecticut pier walk 2000 navy pier chicago decordova museum and sculpture park lincoln massachusetts wadsworth atheneum hartford connecticut and the american academy in rome italy he has also contributed to the art in embassies program through the us state department in washington dc his work is included in various private museum and university collections such as the baltimore museum of art maryland louis b mayer foundation los angeles columbus museum of art ohio and the museum of contemporary art udine italy grausman is also known for his studies of birdsmario naves wrote in the new york observer august 26 2008i couldnt help but wonder what mr grausmans portraitheads would look like at say moma both measure roughly 10 feet high and require a significant amount of viewing distancethey could i think command momas enormous contemporary galleries without strain and maybe with finesse the proportions of each are as deliberate if not as overweening as the museums spaces the coloration of susanna and eileenan emphatic and velvety whitemight transform momas refrigeratorlike ambience into something like the parthenonthats a stretch but mr grausmans profound debt to the art of antiquity renders it not altogether inappropriate susanna and eileen have been shaped with a silky emphasis on idealizationcontours slope elegantly symmetry quietly emphasized with facial features stoic and streamlined though mr grausmans industrial material retains a certain artificial patina it ultimately recalls the quarry rather than the factory a tendency toward abstractionuniversality reallyunderlines the artists belief that art can traverse and find meaning within cultures the world overmr grausmans work is remarkably amenable to public spaceshis sculptures are a highlight of the pratt institutes oncampus sculpture park but just because the sculptures look great surrounded by trees and under the clouds doesnt mean they wouldnt look great indoors moma could do worseand in fact hasthan feature susanna in its atrium gallery the pieces freestanding integrity pretty much guarantees that it could withstand practically any surroundinganimate it too after all the best works of art become contextsgrace glueck wrote in the new york times june 19 1998sculpture portraits stripped to essence are mr grausmans forte concentrating on volume and form eliminating inconsequential details he models faces of expressive vitality by emphasizing their structure and contours his surfaces are integral to the work metal pewter aluminum and stainless steel in gray tones that add to the distinction of these streamlined but powerful presences mr grausmans drawings of nudes eloquent essays in pure line are like his sculptures distinctive for what they leave outmichael brenson wrote in the new york times november 20 1987 mr grausman has described his heads as landscapes and indeed his aluminum seems to sprout and swell like trees and fruit in looking for a way of extending the tradition of sculpture from nature he has found a surprising pathhilton kramer wrote in the new york times october 5 1979 the portrait sculpture of philip grausman is quite unlike anything else on the contemporary art scene today for one thing his portraits are real portraits they address themselves to character and personality and attempt an account of them they are not simply a value accumulation of threedimensional gestures in search of some associations with a recognizable subject for another they are real sculpture their form is compelling their surfaces have an astonishing clarity and finish and they have a haunting physical presence in a period when portrait sculpture of significant quality is a rarity mr grausman works as if it were a flourishing genre and in his portraits it is mr grausman is a phenomenon"

— Philip Grausman 🦘

"rupert pennefather is a principal dancer in the royal ballet company he was promoted to principal status alongside his pasdedeux partner lauren cuthbertson in june 2008 following wellreceived performances in romeo and juliet at the royal opera houserupert has gained acclaim despite several setbacks including failing the annual assessment at the companys white lodge school at 12 and being asked to leave the arts educational school in tring at 15 rupert continued his training in his home town of maidenhead under julie rose a former royal ballet member and his tenacity saw him accepted into the royal ballet company in 1999 he sustained a tendon injury as a soloist in 2002 and was out of action for 18 months upon full recovery in 2004 he was selected for the principal role of paris in romeo and juliet by prima ballerina sylvie guillem and aminta in sylvia by director dame monica mason which proved to be his breakthroughruperts potential to enter the canon of great british ballet dancers alongside such greats as anthony dowell david wall and jonathan cope is closely coupled with the fact that his peer and pasdedeux partner ms cuthbertson is also britishborn bringing them progressively more attention as the next anthony dowell and antionette sibley in the british media according to jonathan cope they are very much in sync with each other im quite excited about it"

— Rupert Pennefather 🦘